Why Track Sleep?

Sleep is an important part of the health and fitness equation.

Most Americans get six and a half hours of sleep a night during the workweek, so if you’re missing that seven-hour goal, you’re not alone. Getting enough sleep can be a challenge, but the rewards are worth the effort.

Sleep can help protect against illness.

Studies suggest that getting between seven and eight hours of sleep a night can reduce your risk for Type 2 diabetes and some cancers. It can also help you avoid less serious illnesses like colds by preventing inflammation, which can hurt your immune system.

Sleep affects your performance.

Lack of sleep can negatively affect portions of your nervous system that control breathing, heart rate and digestion, leaving you feeling exhausted and irritable—not how you want to feel when it’s game time. In fact, not getting enough sleep just one night has been shown to negatively affect how much weight a person can lift and how quickly they can lift it.

Sleep can also affect key aspects of mental performance including alertness, coordination, problem-solving, reaction time and focus. That means getting enough sleep can lead to a better golf swing, a better gym workout, or a better run—and less risk of injury.

Sleep is critical to recovery.

Sleep can also improve how your body responds when the workout is over. When you sleep your body releases important hormones that help encourage muscle production, prevent muscle loss, and help your body use fat stores for fuel instead of muscle. So the harder you train, the more important it is to give your body the proper recovery time.

Track your sleep quality.

UA Band tracks your sleep based on movement. When the band is in sleep mode and detects moderate movement, light sleep is recorded. When the band detects minimal to no movement at all, deep sleep is recorded.

You will likely experience alternating intervals of light and deep sleep during the night. These intervals may be imprecise and not evenly distributed, and it’s common to wake up briefly during these cycles.

Can’t hit the goal?

Sometimes life gets in the way and you miss your bedtime. That’s OK. Don’t have an all-or- nothing mindset. Studies show that the negative effects of sleep deprivation worsen with every additional hour, so six hours of sleep is better than five, five hours is better than four, and so on. So hit the lights and get that much needed sleep!